2023-11-29 11:59:53
VIENNA. The current study by the AK Vienna is a nationwide survey of 8th grade students in mathematics, which was carried out in 2012 and 2017. Among other things, the parents’ migration background and educational level were also asked. The comparison now shows how the composition of the students has changed within five years. A total of 21 native languages were taken into account in the study. Many more languages are spoken throughout Austria. Are there even teachers for this? “I think we imagine it to be more complicated than it is,” says AK expert Erdost. All languages spoken by the students would ultimately also be spoken by their parents. In order to integrate these, further training and qualifications are needed.
The scientists Oliver Gruber and Barbara Herzog-Punzensberger carried out the study on behalf of the AK Vienna. In 2012, around 25 percent of students did not have both parents born in Austria, whereas in 2017, around 32 percent did. More and more students are growing up “binationally”, meaning they have one parent born in Austria and one abroad. While it was just under nine percent in 2012, its share rose to 12.5 percent by 2017. More and more students in Austria do not have German as their native language. A study by the AK Vienna now shows how this share has developed in recent years and how this language treasure can be used for the export and cultural nation of Austria.
The proportion of students whose native language is not German has increased during this period. In 2012, 24 percent of students stated that they had a mother tongue other than German; in 2017 the figure was 29 percent. There are big differences between the federal states in this regard. While in Vienna in 2017 more than half of the students (59%) had a mother tongue other than German, in Carinthia the figure was only 17%. This share rose most sharply in Vienna and Vorarlberg, with 8 percentage points each.
A broad consortium consisting of the Vienna Chamber of Labor, the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Industrialists, the Red Cross, Caritas Austria and Vienna and the Samaritan Association is now presenting an update of the study “Migration and Multilingualism in Austrian Schools”. The aim was to gain more detailed insights into the multilingualism of students on the basis of the educational standard reviews (BIST) and to derive educational policy measures from this. The study demonstrates continuity and change in the findings between 2012 and 2017. This results in common conclusions and proposed measures for educational policy reforms for the consortium.
The study developed by Dr. Barbara Herzog-Punzenberger in mathematics (8th grade, 2012) examined countries of origin, family languages, family environments, kindergarten attendance, segregation, selection and test performance of students. The comparison now made with the mathematics examinations for the 8th grade of the second BIST cycle from 2017 shows both continuous patterns and changes:
The student population is increasingly characterized by migration and a growing diversity of countries of origin. While in 2012 three quarters of students had two parents born in Austria, in 2017 this was only a good two thirds (68 percent). The proportion of school-changers is also increasing in all federal states and affects not only migrants from third countries, but also from Austria’s closer EU neighbors. The proportion of students who indicate a first language other than German also grew from 24 percent to 29 percent in all federal states. The proportion of multilingual students who say they have taken part in special German lessons has also increased in all federal states. An increase in kindergarten attendance of more than three years can be observed for almost all groups of origin, depending on the offer structures in the country of origin or in the federal state.
The distribution of parental education between mothers born in the country and those born abroad remains constant. The latter have a significantly higher proportion of compulsory school graduates and at least a small proportion who have no school qualification at all. Native-born mothers, on the other hand, are twice as likely to have an apprenticeship qualification. The school selection mechanisms are also constant, as the AHS participation rates show: While certain groups of origin continue to have higher proportions of AHS participation than students born in Austria, groups of origin with weaker resources still have significantly lower rates. This is also reflected in the math test results. Although these have improved slightly overall, they still show the same performance gaps between the language groups as in 2012.
More detailed data preparation can be found in Policy Brief 8 of the study “Migration and Multilingualism – The Diversity of Austria’s Schools”.
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Educational policy conclusions
For the commissioning consortium, a number of conclusions can be drawn from these updated findings for further educational policy reform work.
“In our educational institutions, children should be able to learn German as well as other first languages and foreign languages. In order for the promotion of multilingualism to really work, better framework conditions are needed in kindergartens and schools. That means, firstly, sufficient resources for language training. Secondly, German language support measures should be able to be designed independently of schools in such a way that they do not require extensive separation from the regular class. First language teaching also needs to be expanded and further developed. In addition, language education coordinators should be appointed at every school location to support educators in integrating multilingualism in lessons,” emphasizes Ilkim Erdost, head of the education department at the Vienna Chamber of Labor.
“Austria is a country with a great diversity of languages. In addition to German, over 250 other languages are used in everyday life in Austria. For a business location that relies heavily on exports, this is a special resource that absolutely needs to be put to better use. However, multilingual learning environments can be very challenging for educators. To do this, they need support and support, especially in the form of appropriate training, further education and further training offers on language education and multilingualism,” emphasizes Gudrun Feucht, head of the Education & Society department at the Industrial Association.
“The foundation for all later educational success is laid in elementary educational institutions. Every euro invested here brings eight times the economic benefit in the long term; For children with a migrant background, this ‘return on education’ is even significantly higher. That’s why functioning, comprehensive childcare and education as well as the best possible support for elementary educators are so important to us: early evidence-based language support not only creates equal opportunities for children. “It is also a benefit for parents, companies, the location and society as a whole,” says Melina Schneider, head of the education policy department at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ).
“Multilingualism needs early and long-term support. Effective language support must begin early in kindergarten and be continued continuously in school. Only then is it sustainable. In the future, a consistent language support concept from kindergarten to secondary school should ensure that language support can take place without interruptions,” says Alexander Prischl, head of the department for labor market and education policy in the Austrian Trade Union Confederation, said.
“In order to holistically understand the needs of multilingual students and parents, multi-professional teams in which volunteers are also involved are crucial. They need the opportunity to take part in topic-related training, ideally directly through the responsible training and further education center of the respective educational institution. With administrative staff and external experts, teachers should be given additional relief and strengthened with valuable know-how,” emphasizes Katharina Albrecher, head of the educational programs department of the Austrian Youth Red Cross.
“Holistic extracurricular offerings such as the Caritas learning cafés not only support learning, but also enable the development of social skills and social participation. “To do this, they need stronger financial support to secure these offers in the long term, as well as an alignment of the training bases of school and non-school educators and counselors,” says Anna Parr, Secretary General of Caritas Austria.
“Valuing multilingualism and diversity of origins as a basic attitude of the educational institution also means taking the languages and backgrounds of the parents into account. Multilingual advisory services outside of school offer parents important contact points to support parents and schools in supporting their children,” emphasizes Birgit Greifeneder, head of LernLEOS of the Samaritan Association.
Detailed explanations of all proposed measures can be found in the catalog of measures in the study “Migration and Multilingualism – The Diversity of Austria’s Schools”.
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(press releases, yenivatan.at)
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